In Defense of MG Thomason, CG of Fort Huachuca

[Webstral]

Part Four

In Tucson, the Mexicans developed their attack on Davis-Monthan during the early afternoon. Hermosillo Cavalry, which had swapped some of its AFV for infantry from 1st Hermosillo Infantry at the position in Casa Adobes, and 2nd Hermosillo Infantry initially attempted to bull through the southern gate of Davis-Monthan. This failed because the USAF SF had constructed concrete serpentines, earthen bulwarks, and machine gun positions around the openings to post. The entire perimeter was protected by a rough wall of rubble which was effectively impassible to vehicles, although infantry could cross the wall. The Mexicans blasted the machine gun towers with fire from the 90mm main guns of their Lynxes, then attempted to send engineers forward to reduce the concrete barriers of the serpentine. Brave airmen and police officers huddled within the serpentine discouraged the Mexican sappers with grenades. The Mexicans decided instead to blast a hole in the serpentine, expending many 90mm rounds to do so. However, the defending airmen covered the resulting gap with small arms fire. When the Mexicans attempted to push a Lynx through to cover the infantry, the defenders of 355th Wing revealed that they had emplaced an immobile V-150 with a 20mm gun to cover the gate. When the Lynx moved through the open end of the serpentine, the American airmen knocked it out, blocking the serpentine again.

Frustrated, the commander of Hermosillo Brigade decided to attack over the wall where the base housing came closest to the wall in the northeast corner of the base. There he could use his superior numbers of infantry to best effect. After systematically knocking out machine gun positions along the northeastern lengths of the wall with fire from his Lynxes (the Americans wisely abandoned their exposed positions), the Mexican commander unleashed his dismounted attack. As expected, the Americans conducted a reverse slope defense from inside the perimeter. The Mexicans attempted to suppress the defense by shelling the houses nearest the wall, killing or injuring many of the defenders. After suffering some losses, 1st Hermosillo Infantry established a foothold inside the base housing area. They planned to move towards the nearest gate, seize it, and bring in their AFV.

The defenders had two working light AFV and a handful of Hum-Vee gun trucks. They knew it was critical to keep the Mexican armor outside the walls.

As evening began to descend into twilight, 111th Brigade attacked 2nd Hermosillo Infantry at Casa Adobes. The defenders had chosen a good position north of the dense housing belt. Two small, sharp hills on the south side of the highway ran north-south and came within a kilometer of the highway. The hills would be impassable to vehicles. The area between the northernmost spur and the highway was open, having been agricultural land before the war. North, northwest, and northeast of the position was more open ground—either untilled desert or pre-war agricultural land. The ground was also open for a kilometer to the south and for several kilometers to the east. Bypasses were possible; it was, after all, basically urban area. However, the highway was the most convenient way of moving the heavy military trucks and civilian commercial trucks that were hauling so much of the materiel belonging to 111th Brigade. COL Williams decided the position had to be cleared and cleared quickly. Ensenada Brigade might pick up the pursuit from the west at any time.

The 111th launched a hammer-and-anvil assault. 309th Battalion, in soft-skinned trucks but with a handful of APCs for fire support, moved through a housing development west of the Mexican position. Braving mortar fire from the north hill, the 309th drove up a single road splitting the two hills (called West Twin Peaks Road) and assaulted a Mexican platoon guarding the road virtually on the run. Although casualties were heavy, the 309th took the position in short order and drove through. Once on the east side of the hills, 309th was in a housing development that approached the main Mexican position from the south.

While 309th was moving, 326th Battalion moved into another housing development a kilometer west of the main Mexican position. 305th Battalion remained mounted in reserve. The remaining operational Ridgway light tanks were moved into position to support the 326th.

Once 326th and 309th were in position and about to cross the open ground around the Mexican position, Williams opened up with his artillery. Here the Americans enjoyed fire superiority, for the Mexican commander had declined to parcel out his guns. Indirect fire was critical for keeping the heads of the Mexican defenders down. Timely and reasonably accurate American mortar fire helped the Americans close in the gathering gloom for a close-in assault on the Mexican position. As the defending Lynxes revealed their positions by firing on the advancing American infantry, the American Ridgways knocked them out one by one. Williams threw 305th in behind 326th once the initial assault reached the outermost Mexican fighting positions. As night fell, a nearly full moon illuminated the Americans as they reached and overwhelmed the Mexican defenders. Large numbers surrendered, and more than a handful managed to escape.

In the deepening shadows at Davis-Monthan, Mexican infantry pressed forward towards the northernmost gate. Determined fire by the defenders prevented the Mexican infantry from moving quickly along the interior of the defensive wall. Instead, the Mexicans worked their way through the housing development in close-quarters combat. Losses on both sides mounted rapidly. The Mexicans were not shy about calling in mortar or howitzer fire to help blast a path, and by 2200 hours they had reached the gate and had killed or captured its defenders.

At Fort Huachuca, the Mexican armor rolled through the western part of the main post, machine-gunning targets of opportunity. They turned up the main road to the western gate to take Smith’s task force in rear. By the time they arrived, however, they discovered that Smith’s people had been forewarned. A near miss from a LAW convinced the Mexicans that a mounted charge into the American position would not bear fruit. As darkness descended, the Mexican infantry in VAB dismounted and established firing positions behind the Americans. They were too few to assault the Americans directly, but they could act as anvil when the rest of the brigade’s infantry came up to hammer the Americans from the west. The armored vehicles, lacking night vision, set up a bonnegruppa to cover potential withdrawal routes with machine gun fire.

The main infantry attack of Nogales Brigade was running behind schedule, however. Although the Americans at the west gate had suffered significant losses and had been scattered by the advancing Mexican armor, handfuls had stopped evading and had taken up firing positions along the side of the road. As the main body of 2nd Nogales Infantry advanced down the road, they came under fire from riflemen among the mesquite and tall grass on either side of the road. Detachments split off to eliminate or pursue the Americans, but the march was slowed considerably thereby. Two brave State Guardsmen held up the advance for nearly an hour with highly accurate fire with bolt action rifles from a position atop a spur on the south side of the road. They continued fighting despite the efforts of the Mexicans to put them out of action with fire from mortars. Darkness put an end to their action and allowed the Mexicans to advance once again. By this time, 1st Nogales Infantry, which had been mopping up around the west gate, had closed up with 2nd Nogales Infantry. 2nd Nogales Infantry detached a company of rifles as its sister battalion passed through to continue the attack.

In Casa Adobes, Williams whipped his troops back into their trucks and APCs. He left support troops and a company of riflemen to sort through the EPW. The main body of the weary brigade raced through Tucson to relieve Davis-Monthan. Although most of the combat power of the force in Tucson had been at Davis-Monthan when the battle began, a number of police and airmen were scattered throughout the city on various security duties. A number arrived in the vicinity of Davis-Monthan after the fight began. Notably, a handful of police snipers took up positions in nearby buildings and made themselves a decided nuisance while there was enough light for long-range rifle fire. Others made contact with the 111th and provided intelligence regarding the disposition of the main body of Hermosillo Brigade, including the direction of the main attack, size of the units involved, and the location of the brigade headquarters, support troops, and artillery.

At the same time, the commander of Hermosillo Brigade was aware that 2nd Hermosillo Infantry had been defeated in a surprisingly short battle. He could only conclude that 111th Brigade was would move to relieve Davis-Monthan AFB shortly. He decided that the best course of action was to capture the walled complex as quickly as possible, then move his own headquarters, artillery, and support units inside. Once Nogales Brigade mopped up Fort Huachuca, troops could be dispatched north to assist in Tucson. Provided Mexican forces in Tucson could achieve at least a stalemate while holding Davis-Monthan and Huachuca, Ensenada Brigade could be brought east from Yuma to crush the 111th once and for all. At the very least, with Mexican forces in possession of the food, fuel, and ammunition stores at Huachuca and Davis-Monthan, the 111th would be unable to continue the fight for long.

This last fact concerned Williams deeply. His brigade had carried enough ammunition for three days of intensive operations. He was now nearing the end of the second day. Already, some of the infantry had fired twice their basic load. Mortar, howitzer, and machine gun rounds were running out. He was going to have to strike hard and strike fast.

Fortune favored the Americans. Several key elements were moving in the vicinity of Davis-Monthan at the same time. 1st Hermosillo Infantry had seized the gate and serpentine at East Golf Links Road in the northeast quadrant of the Davis-Monthan walled complex. The battalion also had been able to set up machine gun positions to isolate the remaining American defenders in the northeastern housing complex. Although there were still defenders inside the base, including a platoon of gun trucks, the Mexicans had taken the upper hand. With the northeast gate in their possession, the Mexicans began moving the AFV of Hermosillo Cavalry into the complex. Once inside, they could easily dominate the open spaces inside the walls and systematically eliminate the American defenders. Their first job would be to cross to the southern gate and let the headquarters, support units, and artillery in. Once Hermosillo Cavalry reported that they were inside the complex, the commander of Hermosillo Brigade began moving towards the south gate.

Much faster than had been anticipated, though, the lead elements of 111th Brigade appeared on Interstate 10 virtually overlooking the command and support elements of Hermosillo Brigade. Brushing aside Mexican pickets, two platoons of Ridgway tanks rapidly formed a firing line along the right shoulder of the highway and opened up on the Mexicans below them. Truck-mounted infantry descended the offramp and, covered by fire from the tanks, rolled practically into the teeth of the enemy before dismounting. The Mexicans disintegrated. Some, including the commander and most of his staff, managed to survive the initial onslaught, find alternate transport, and drive away. Others escaped on foot. However, the Americans took a considerable bag of prisoners and hardware, including the intact howitzers of the brigade.

Command and control of Hermosillo Brigade was lost within the first minute. Although the commander survived, he lost contact with Hermosillo Cavalry and 1st Hermosillo Infantry. Aware that something was happening outside the walled complex, both Mexican battalion commanders ordered a temporary pause so they could assess. It soon became apparent that the two battalions were on their own. The cavalry commander ordered a general retreat. Hermosillo Cavalry hurriedly filed out through the northeast gate, while 1st Hermosillo Infantry withdrew they way they had entered the complex and linked up with their motor transport in a neighborhood just to the east of the air base.

Williams knew that the withdrawing Mexicans would have to cross the line of Interstate 10 somewhere. He guessed correctly that they would make for Interstate 19, which would provide them with the quickest route south. They were unlikely to try to move west through Tucson to I-19, given that the 111th had come from that direction and might have secured all of the onramps. Williams decided that the Mexican commander would head east to a major north-south expressway, turn south and cross I-10 east of the city limits, then head west across the southern edge of metropolitan Tucson to I-19. This was exactly what the commander of Hermosillo Cavalry did.

In the event, 309th Battalion did not arrive at S Houghton Road in time to block the egress of the remainder of Hermosillo Brigade. The Mexicans had arrived at the overpass first and had positioned Lynxes at either end of the overpass. These took the approaching trucks of 309th Battalion under fire, forcing the infantry to dismount as their trucks attempted to back out of the killing zone. Williams promptly brought his artillery into play, causing considerable losses among the infantry and their soft-skinned transport.

Drawing on his last strength, Williams sent a small force of infantry, backed by a platoon of light tanks, south to block East Suharita Road, which would lead the Mexicans west and back to Interstate 19. Instead of going this way, the Mexicans turned east on East Suharita and took Highway 83 south to Sonoita.

At Fort Huachuca, General Thomason personally led a last-ditch effort to defend the post. Almost every remaining man or woman in uniform, along with several hundred civilians, assembled to attack the Mexicans who had set up firing positions behind General Smith’s force. Thomason’s force was armed with Molotov cocktails, handguns, and the desperation of people who had nowhere to run. Covered by darkness, Thomason’s mob made contact with the security element of the Mexican armor at almost exactly the same moment that 1st Nogales Infantry attacked Smith’s force from the west. The battle was chaotic. Thomason’s civilians charged in to heave their Molotovs and attack the Mexican infantry with the zeal of fanatics. The Mexicans shot them down by the dozen, and yet still they came on. Although the Molotovs destroyed very few of the Mexican AFV, the burning mixture suffocated the engines of the armored vehicles and tended to panic the crews. The dismounted infantry were gradually cut apart by close-range fusillades from revolvers and pistols. One by one, the surviving Mexican AFV began to bolt—if they could get their engines to start. Those who were stranded began to surrender.

Less than 500 meters to the west, the commander of Nogales Brigade concluded that his chance to capture Fort Huachuca was gone. His brigade had fought hard and endured heavy casualties since the start of the war. It was time to save the rest of his men and equipment before 111th Brigade cut off his avenue of escape. 1st and 2nd Nogales Infantry broke contact and conducted a forced march back to their motor transport near the west gate. They mounted up, drove to Sonoita to link up with Hermosillo Brigade, and crossed the Mexican-American border at Nogales.

A handful of AFV from Nogales Cavalry had survived the nighttime attack by driving away. These troops managed to link up. Rather than attempt to flee through the west gate, the crews boldly (and desperately) drove across Fort Huachuca, captured Buffalo Soldier Gate on the east side of post just long enough to drive through it, and raced down Highway 92 towards the border. Rather than attempt to cross at Naco or further east, the crews opted to attempt to drive cross-country, making use of some of the dirt roads the Americans had not yet destroyed south of Highway 92. At one point, the small convoy was obliged to enter an arroyo and move along it in single file. The lead APC broke an axle, blocking the arroyo. The Mexican troops were still trying to move the damaged vehicle when the Americans found them.

Webstral

[cavtroop]

Raw or not, this stuff is awesome. I had two browsers open while reading this - one open here so I could read it, and one open to Google Maps, so I could follow along on the map. Great stuff!

[Fusilier]

Well done Web. Keep it up. I've always liked your stuff.

[fightingflamingo]

Web, this is great. One thing I'd look at though is Federal Activation ( 10 USC 331-333) of the AZ state guard to augment the US Border Patrol, and ICE. I think this might be a particularly evident in all the states along the US southern boarder with Mexico, primarily concerned with stopping the flow of illegal aliens into the US prior to the exchange across the border for security reasons, and additionally to try to interdict or otherwise limit infiltration of the border by combantants (Spetnaz & the like). Since the country is at war after December 1996, and border security and enforcement is a Federal Law rolr, which primarily acts upon foreign nationals not lawfully entering the US, so the Posse Comitatus Act (18 USC 1385) probably won't apply, especially if ICE agents are deployed with the militia's along the border, much like the way the Navy can currently support the Coast Guard in Federal missions.

[Webstral]

Thank you, gentlemen. I bit of positive feedback fairly makes the fingers fly over the keyboard. Unfortunately, I have a chemistry exam on Tuesday, math due Sunday night, and social commitments on Saturday. I don't think I'll be able to finish the last section until next week. Thanks for the encouragement.

Webstral

[Webstral]

Aftermath A

Colonel Thomas Williams, commander of the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade, stood just outside the entrance to the headquarters building of one of his subordinate battalions, the 309th MI, and conferred with his subordinate commander. All around them, soldiers of the 309th went about their post-battle tasks. A string of yellow-and-white party canopies scavenged from somewhere in town had been erected in the parking lot, and picnic benches had been put in place underneath the canopies. Soldiers sat in long rows, cleaning weapons. Attempting to gauge the mood of his troops when he first approached the 309th headquarters, Williams noticed that the soldiers were almost silent as they worked. Occasionally, one would stop what he or she was doing and stare into the distance. After a time, a neighbor would notice and gently urge the staring soldier back to business.

As brigade commander, Williams could have summoned the commander of the 309th to the brigade headquarters. On this day, Williams preferred to see the line units for himself. Things appeared to be going as they should. The soldiers were busy preparing their equipment for the next round of fighting, whether that be later in the day or in a month. The weapons always came first; Williams had been pleased to discover that the machine guns, mortars, rifles, and grenade launchers of the able-bodied soldiers had been handled already. This morning, a detachment of soldiers was working on the recovered weapons of the fallen. NCOs were present, but none were barking orders. Everyone seemed to know what had to be done.

Water was available, Williams had noticed. Soup had been put out on a small cart at the end of several of the benches, along with ersatz coffee. Battle gear—helmets, load bearing equipment with magazine pouches, canteens, BDU jackets, packs, and cleaned rifles, squad automatic weapons, and machine guns—was arranged in tidy rows behind the benches. Clearly, the platoon sergeants had been active earlier.

“Sir,” said Lieutenant Colonel Ann Petrowicz, the 309th Battalion commander, “I don’t remember the headcount for Bravo Company. I’ve got it in my office. Do you want to go inside?”

“No,” said Williams, smiling wryly. “I know I sprung this meeting on you. Go ahead and get it. Bring your S-3 and sergeant major back with you. There are some things we need to discuss, but I want to do it out here.”

When Petrowicz had gone inside her headquarters, Williams turned and walked out into the parking lot and into the blazing summer sun of southeastern Arizona. It was only nine in the morning, but already the temperature had climbed into the low nineties. Williams was certain it would be over one hundred degrees today, as it had been for the past several days. Still, it wasn’t as bad as it had been in Yuma, he reflected. Early June temperatures in Yuma typically were near one hundred twenty degrees—warmer on the pavement where much of the fighting had taken place. At nearly a mile in elevation, Sierra Vista was just on the bearable side of torrid in the summer, provided one had plenty of water. Just stepping out of the shade of the overhang of headquarters roof, Williams felt himself getting warmer instantly.

Williams looked up into the flawlessly blue southern Arizona sky. The monsoon wouldn’t come for another month. Until then, the land would bake by day and simmer by night. Absently, Williams wondered if there was something wrong with him for feeling a strong attachment to a place where life could be so difficult.

The brigade commander took a deep breath, tasting the air. Fort Huachuca still smelled like a battle. The overwhelming smell was of fire: ash and smoke. Mixed in was the sickeningly sweet scent of burned flesh, along with the unmistakable smell of gunpowder. The Molotov cocktails used in the last-ditch defense of the post had been a good idea, if a desperate one. Unfortunately, all that uncontrolled flame in vegetation that hadn’t received rain in at least five months had ignited a very substantial grass fire. Many, many acres had gone up in smoke. For a time, the fire threatened to enter the main post. As nature would have it, though, the grass fires hadn’t been hot enough to ignite the mesquite trees, although many of them lost a lot of leaves. The fire had also inspired a lot of the Mexican troops to surrender or flee. Though it was impossible to say that the flames had decided the fight for Fort Huachuca, the fire certainly appeared to have been an ally. That ally seemed determined to remind everyone on post of its contribution. Despite the work of a large contingent of civilian volunteers with shovels and buckets of precious water, the burned ground on the west side of post continued to issue forth lazy streamers of smoke and flying ash.

With a rueful grin, Williams said to himself, “Smells like victory.”

With a few exceptions, the buildings between Williams and the source of the smoke looked much as they had before the war—before the nukes. The battalions of the 111th were housed in a long double row of one-story and two-story buildings with wide footprints, walls of dull red blocks of simulated sandstone, Spanish-style red tile roofs, and surrounds of gravel with small islands of mesquite trees, ornamental grasses, and succulents. The landscaping still looked reasonably good, Williams mused, because there were always soldiers in need of additional duties. The buildings looked like they had last year, before the nuclear exchange started in Europe. The buildings looked like they had when the nation was prosperous and vital and everything was still plentiful: like when Williams could take a few minutes out of the day to drive out Buffalo Soldier Gate and into Sierra Vista to get a giant cup of coffee with three tubs of creamer and four packages of sugar at the Circle K.

Ah, don’t go down that road, Williams warned himself.

Casting about for something to bring him back to the present, Williams turned his attention to the soldiers cleaning weapons under the canopies. Almost all of them had doffed their camouflage outer layer—technically called a jacket but more like a thick button-down shirt—and were working in their issue brown T-shirts. They were all sweating in the gathering heat. Dark spots had grown under their arms and along their backs. Again, Williams was struck by their quiet diligence. These were the same people who had volunteered to join the Army as Military Intelligence soldiers who had been thrust into the role of Military Police following the admittedly limited nuclear strikes on the United States last November and December. They had endured months of civil defense missions in all their ugly forms. These former MI soldiers, some of whom had never even seen a regular unit, distributed emergency supplies and engaged in firefights with desperate and angry civilians. These former MI soldiers had been thrust into the role of infantry and had persevered. They had fought at Nogales, Yuma, and Casa Adobes. The survivors in front of him had seen two of every three comrades fall by the wayside in seven months. They had refused to commit suicide or desert, as so many of their fellows had. They had repulsed the enemy and overrun his defenses. They had fought for their homeland and triumphed at awful cost in friends and comrades. And now they sat and worked and quietly prepared themselves for the next opportunity to give their lives. Williams felt a sudden, nearly overwhelming surge of affection for these young men and women. He had harbored grave doubts that they would be able to take the Mexican position at Casa Abodes. Yet despite losses that should have turned them back, these ill-trained riflemen had struggled over the bodies of their fellows to tackle the enemy and wrestle him into submission. It was nothing short of inspirational.

“Sir, I’ve got those headcounts,” said a voice from behind Williams.

Knot in his throat, Williams turned and nodded. Petrowicz had brought her operations officer and senior noncommissioned officer, as Williams had directed. If any of them noticed the play of emotions on Williams’ face, they were discrete enough to make no mention of it. The four of them conferred for a time on the much-reduced manpower of the battalion and juggled ideas for making the battalion combat ready as soon as possible. After a while, the 309th command sergeant major pointed over Williams’ shoulder.

“Sir, I think there’s someone here for you.”

Walking down the broad sidewalk linking the battalion buildings was a small knot of soldiers. The soldier in the lead was unmistakably the post commander; although he looked much like any other officer on post with his standard-issue BDUs, boots, patrol cap, and sidearm in a holster under his left shoulder, the twin bright silver stars on his patrol cap made it impossible to confuse Major General Charles Thomason with anyone else on Fort Huachuca. Thomason was accompanied by his aide/bodyguard, a couple of staffers from headquarters, and a civilian Williams didn’t recognize. Thomason’s left arm was in a sling, and his forearm was heavily bandaged. The others in the group fell back as Thomason approached Williams.

The post commander stopped in front of the little group standing in the entrance to the 309th Battalion headquarters. He was not a big man, but he spoke like a man accustomed to getting his way.

“Ladies and gentlemen, can I steal your CO for a few minutes?” When the other three quickly nodded their assent, Thomason said: “Walk with me, Tom.”

The commanding general of Fort Huachuca and the commanding officer of the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade walked across the parking lot and down the sidewalk fronting the main avenue adjacent to the long row of battalion buildings until they were effectively alone.

Thomason said, “You did a hell of a job, Tom. You saved us all.”

Williams said, “The way I hear it, sir, you didn’t need any saving.” After a moment, he added, “How’s that arm?”

“Hurts like a bitch,” Thomason said with a grimace. “So you heard about General Smith?”

Williams nodded. “He was a good man.”

Thomason grunted noncommittally. “He died a soldier’s death. He’d be happy.”

The pair walked another few steps. Then Thomason said, “I need a new deputy. Interested?”

“Sir, if you’ll pardon my saying so, aren’t there a couple of more senior colonels on post?”

“Those days are over, Colonel. Those men ended up running garbage projects for a reason. Would you really recommend either of them to replace me if this wing of mine gets gangrene?”

Williams said, “No, sir, I wouldn’t.” He waited three more paces before asking, “Who’ll replace me?”

“Who do you recommend?”

Without hesitation, Williams said, “Dave Alipranti. I couldn’t have done it without him. He’s the real deal, sir. Don’t get me wrong, sir—my XO did a good job. J.C. Comeau is a good officer, but that S-3 really came through for us.”

Thomason nodded. “I agree. I have another job for J.C., anyway. Refresh my memory—what’s Alipranti’s story?”

“Twenty-Fourth ID in Kuwait, sir. He was a battalion XO when the Republican Guard came south again. His commander got hit on the second day of the fight. Dave took over and commanded until July, I think. His track hit a mine, and he got flown back here for surgery. Didn’t you pin him light colonel last October?”

“I did,” Thomason said. “We’re lucky it worked out for us.”

“That we are, sir. Can I ask what you have in mind for J.C.?”

“I don’t want Major Bonnfeld running the 326th. How do you feel about him?”

Williams paused for a moment to give the impression he was considering his answer. “I don’t think he’s ready for battalion command.” He walked four more paces. “I take it there’s something I don’t know about Colonel Olsen, other than he went on sick call this morning?”

Matter-of-factly, Thomason said, “His wife found him about thirty minutes ago.”

Williams cursed softly. “He seemed okay in the field. He ran 326th just fine. He did a good job.”

Sounding resigned, Thomason said, “Well, let me know what you think he’s earned. That goes for all of your people, Tom. I hear you have a mess of lieutenants who are going to need posthumous Bronze and Silver Stars. When you come up to headquarters, bring me a list of who you want to commission to replace them, and we’ll do a proper ceremony.”

Williams realized that Thomason had walked them in a half-loop that brought them back to the parking lot outside the 309th Battalion headquarters. Thomason turned to go. He extended his hand.

“You did a hell of a job, Tom.”

Williams shook hands with his commander. “It’s a hell of a business, sir.”


Webstral

I couldn't resist working on this a little bit, even though I have more than enough legitimate work to do this weekend.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by Webstral

Part Four
The 111th launched a hammer-and-anvil assault. 309th Battalion, in soft-skinned trucks but with a handful of APCs for fire support, moved through a housing development west of the Mexican position. Braving mortar fire from the north hill, the 309th drove up a single road splitting the two hills (called West Twin Peaks Road) and assaulted a Mexican platoon guarding the road virtually on the run.

Trippy, man! I frequently drive Twin Peaks road on my way from work to pick up my son from his school. It's weird/cool to think of the place I live as a battleground.

[Webstral]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Trippy, man! I frequently drive Twin Peaks road on my way from work to pick up my son from his school. It's weird/cool to think of the place I live as a battleground.

You can see why I chose it for a strong point. The highway can be covered, there are good fields of fire around the road, and anyone approaching the position has to move across some open ground. Unfortunately for the Mexicans here, the commander of Hermosillo Brigade followed the rule of concentrating his combat power in the main effort. The Mexicans had no howitzers, while the Americans rolled up with a battalion of 105mm guns. This position was supposed to prevent traffic from moving, not withstand an attack by the entire 111th Brigade. If the defenders had had some artillery and time to dig in properly, they would have done better.

Webstral

[Webstral]

In mid-June 1998, the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade had about 1800 surviving troops organized into three ad hoc infantry battalions, an ad hoc field artillery battalion, plus a grab bag of support units and troops.

On June 21, MG Thomason issued orders redesignating the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade the 111th Infantry Brigade (Provisional). The surviving military personnel and units under the command of Fort Huachuca were almost completely reorganized. The improvised organizational solutions were transformed into an established, if provisional, Table of Organization and Equipment (TO&E).

305th, 309th, and 326th MI Battalions became 305th 309th, and 326th Infantry Battalions (Provisional), respectively. USAF 355th Wing, based at Davis-Monthan AFB, is reflagged 355th Infantry Battalion (Provisional). The TO&E for these battalions reflected the intent of the command to use the rifle battalion as the principal independent maneuver force; consequently, the platoons were large enough to have both combat and staying power, while each battalion headquarters & headquarters company contained enough specialized troops to provide adequate support for the battalion for independent operations. At full strength, each battalion would have more than 750 soldiers in five companies (including the headquarters & headquarters company). The four light infantry battalions, disposing 3000 troops at full strength, would be the fighting heart of 111th Brigade.

The colors of the 344th MI Battalion, which had been assigned to the 111th MI Brigade but which had been based at Lackland AFB in Texas, would be used for a new purpose. All of the field artillery of the 111th Brigade would be organized along traditional lines into the new 344th Field Artillery Battalion (Provisional). With the addition of captured Mexican 105mm howitzers, Fort Huachuca could field a large battalion of guns to provide fire support for the 111th. All of the mortars held in various ad hoc arrangements would be moved out of 344th Battalion and distributed to the infantry battalions.

After much heated debate with his subordinates, Thomason decided to consolidate the remaining AFV into a single battalion under the command of 111th Brigade. The infantry battalion commanders were loathe to lose the combat power of the APC which had previously belonged to the rifle battalions. Thomason heeded the argument from his tankers that the striking power of the surviving AFV would best be used if consolidated for concentrated deployment. The Wehrmacht had succeeded in France by concentrating its available tanks into mobile formations. Fort Huachuca would be better served, the tankers argued, by a single strong battalion capable of rapid movement and decisive action than by small packages of armor distributed throughout the infantry units. Thomason agreed, although his hedged his bet by writing into the new doctrine the need for the mechanized battalion to detach company teams of light tanks and APC to augment infantry battalions during the independent operations he foresaw. The new battalion controlling virtually all of the surviving armored fighting vehicles under the control of Fort Huachuca would be flagged 367th Infantry Battalion (Heavy Motorized, Provisional).

Specialized support services still would be required by 111th Brigade. All of them (field medical, maintenance, quartermaster, and so on) would be consolidated into a single support battalion. The 306th MI Battalion would be reflagged as 306th Support Battalion (Composite, Provisional) under the command of 111th Brigade but available to the Fort Huachuca command as needed.

Engineering assets would also be consolidated into a single battalion. Like the armored assets, company teams of engineers—including sappers, heavy equipment, construction, and other specialties—would be tasked out to battalion task forces for specific missions. The new organization would be flagged as 322nd Engineer Battalion (Composite, Provisional).

Battlefield surveillance, interrogation, and other MI support for 111th would be provided by another new unit: G/304th MI.

111th MI Brigade
Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment
305th Bn (light infantry)
306th Bn (composite support battalion)
309th Bn (light infantry)
322nd Bn (engineers, composite)
326th Bn (light infantry)
344th Bn (field artillery, composite)
355th Bn (light infantry)
367th Bn (heavy motorized infantry)
G/304 (MI company team)

Having created a new TO&E for 111th Brigade, Thomason and his staff were faced with the enormous challenge of filling the slots with warm bodies.

Thomason had decided to consolidate all of the remaining military commands into a handful of formations: 111th Brigade, 304th Military Intelligence Battalion, the newly-flagged 1012th Military Police Battalion, 3rd Arizona State Guard Brigade, and the newly-flagged 317th Schools Battalion. The 111th would be the primary combat force of the Huachuca command; 304th MI Battalion would continue in its job of collecting intelligence at all levels with a primary emphasis on preparing Fort Huachuca to continue fighting in the Second Mexican-American War; the new 1012th Military Police Battalion would focus on internal security and policing missions within Cochise, Pima, and Santa Cruz Counties; 3rd AZSTAG Brigade would continue to support 111th and would serve as a reserve force over the long term; and all training would be conducted under the auspices of the new 317th Schools Battalion.

A large number of US Army units would have their colors furled and cased for the foreseeable future. Their soldiers would be reassigned to the five remaining major commands. Among the units being deactivated were all 11th Signal Brigade rear detachments, all Arizona National Guard units, all Army Reserve units operating under Huachuca command, and all tenant units at Fort Huachuca not directly attached to 304th MI Battalion. Furthermore, Thomason incorporated all troops and commands from the sister services into the remaining commands at Huachuca. Most prominent among them was the USAF 355th Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB, which became 355th Infantry Battalion. However, the non-Army military personnel who became soldiers overnight included the USMC, USN, and USAF detachments at Fort Huachuca, the Marines from Yuma Marine Corps Air Station who had survived to join the 111th Brigade, plus sister service stragglers from southern California, Phoenix, and New Mexico. All were reassigned to the new commands. In the wake of the fighting at Yuma, Tucson, and Fort Huachuca, Thomason had concluded that he had failed to respond properly to the post-Exchange circumstances. He had allowed separate commands to persist long after there was any good reason for them to exist. Having reached that conclusion, Thomason quickly silenced voices of dissent among the former Army commands and the sister services. Uniformity of service was all that mattered.

Thomason’s first concern was filling the rifle battalions of the 111th with warm bodies. 304th MI Battalion would not lose anyone, but the only people sent to the battalion in June, July, or August were senior specialists—principally senior NCOs and warrant officers—whose skills were simply too valuable to be risked in the field. 1012th MP Battalion would retain most of the MPs under Huachuca command; however, the former USAF Security Forces personnel all would go into the line. The MPs would have to wait some time to have filled their authorized slots in the new 1012th Battalion. 3rd Brigade would receive no new personnel. In fact, the surviving units would be tapped to provide a modest number of replacements for the 111th. The Schools Battalion was another matter entirely, though.

Altogether, Thomason was able to scrounge nearly 800 troops from dissolved commands, including the former 355th Wing. Despite his insistence that the rifles came first, Thomason allowed himself to be convinced by his G-1 (post adjutant, or personnel officer) that a quarter of the scrounged troops had to be sent to key jobs in the 322nd Engineers, 306th Support, 317th Schools, and 367th Motorized. Nevertheless, the new troops represented a very welcome addition to the rolls of 111th Brigade.

With 3000 slots to fill in the four light infantry battalions, Thomason opted to distribute his remaining personnel equally among the battalions. By the end of July, returning wounded very nearly filled the rifle battalions to their new authorized strength.

The Huachuca command was keenly aware, though, that simply filling the rifle battalions with able-bodied men and women was a far cry from establishing a force that would be able to meet and defeat the next Mexican offensive. Although all of the services included rifle marksmanship in their basic training, this hardly represented the kind of training required to build effective infantry. Included among the new replacements filling the rifle companies of 111th Brigade were Army combat service support personnel who hadn’t fired a shot since their own basic training, as well as former Navy and Air Force personnel who were completely new to Army organization and the infantry. The new troops would have to be trained, and the more seasoned (former MI) troops would have to be retrained. Additionally, the past six months had revealed that many of the leaders had to be removed while others needed to be advanced.

Thomason, uncomfortably aware that his command was now the southernmost salient of American-controlled territory in the Southwest as well as the only area where US forces still controlled the US-Mexico border, knew that Mexico still possessed comparatively huge resources. By the end of June, he had decided that he was going to refuse all orders to relocate 111th Brigade. He knew that this action would effectively cut off his command from whatever support might still be had from 6th US Army in California or 5th US Army in Texas. The Joint Chiefs, who were effectively running the United States by this point, were unlikely to send supplies or replacements to what amounted to a renegade command in southern Arizona. Having made up his mind, Thomason was now faced with the fact that he would have to defend his command with local resources. Given the potentially overwhelming numerical superiority of the Mexicans, Thomason would have to balance the scales with superior quality while putting as many soldiers into the field as the local economy would sustain.

Bearing in mind the qualitative challenge, Thomason had consolidated all of the schoolhouse functions at Fort Huachuca into the new 317th Schools Battalion. With his eye on ensuring that all new soldiers were trained to a high standard, Thomason directed the former Marines under his command to establish a new basic training program. Additionally, he established a new Infantry School within the 317th. Included among the cadre of the new school were former Army Reserve, Army National Guard, and AZSTAG instructors from the pre-nuclear period, disabled veterans of the pre-nuclear and post-nuclear period, former Marines, and several of the foreign exchange staff who had been stranded at Huachuca as a result of the nuclear exchange. Of particular utility were the handful of Chinese soldiers, whose doctrine and experience as light infantry more closely matched the current circumstances than pre-Exchange American doctrine.

The 326th was the first of the rifle battalions to be subjected to the tender mercies of the Chinese and former Marine instructors. Having been brought very nearly up to its authorized strength (more than 750) by the end of July, the 326th was taken off the line for a period of intensive retraining while 305th, 309th, and 355th Battalions either manned the fortifications, conducted patrols, or engaged in task force missions with the available forces. Cadre of the 317th broke the companies of the 326th down to squad level for intensive re-training that emphasized the basics: rifle marksmanship, movement, close quarters combat drills, and physical fitness. As the squads were recombined into platoons and then companies, additional skills were re-taught and reinforced. While the troops were training, the officers and senior NCOs received their own training. The entire process took almost two months. At the end of this time, 326th returned to the field and 305th Battalion was rotated off the line and into the schoolhouse.

New soldiers would be needed to complete Thomason’s long-term goals, the first of which was the rebuilding of 111th Brigade into a tough and effective infantry brigade capable of fighting and winning anywhere in the Southwest. The heavy fighting in June had taught the Huachuca command that if the 111th was to conduct operations away from Huachuca and Tucson, the cantonment area would need forces to protect it. Thomason had kept 3rd AZSTAG Brigade in existence for precisely this reason. Once 111th Brigade was fully operational, Thomason would rebuild 3rd Brigade into a well-drilled reserve force that could defend the Huachuca-Tucson cantonment when the 111th was operating elsewhere. Thousands of new troops would be needed to realize these goals. Turning new recruits into soldiers would be the job of 317th Schools Battalion.

The first well of untapped manpower Thomason turned to in July, 1998 was the large population of EPW on-post. The Enemy Prisoners of War, who numbered nearly seven thousand at that point, represented a vast pool of military experience. Excluding Mexican prisoners, more than ninety percent of the EPW had willingly participated in Thomason’s citizenship program, by which EPW who volunteered for work crews could earn their US citizenship. Now Thomason solicited them for volunteers to go through the brand-new boot camp system and take their place in 111th Brigade or one of the other commands. The response was overwhelming. More than half of the EPW volunteered for the first class. The 317th and the G-1 had the luxury of combing through the volunteers for those who had a solid command of English, a desirable base of skills, and a willingness to join as privates regardless of previous rank. A surprising number of NCOs and even junior officers among the EPW volunteered, despite the prospect of being at the bottom of the so-called totem pole. One Armenian sergeant remarked that being an American private on the free side of the fence was better than being a sergeant on the other side.

The general populace was solicited as well. Again, the response was overwhelming. Small numbers of recruits had been inducted since the TDM. With a formal system in place, recruiting offices were opened in Tucson, Bisbee, and a few other locations. The bottleneck quickly became the number of recruits who could be trained by the 317th. The excess of volunteers gave the 317th an unexpected luxury: they could refuse some potential recruits and wash out others. The drill sergeants of the Schools Battalion observed with satisfaction that sending a volunteer back to the EPW work crews or the fields powerfully motivated his peers in the new boot camp or in the new Infantry School.

For all that thing seemed to be going well in terms of manpower and training by the end of August, Thomason still was presented with enormous problems. With a two-month training rotation for each of the four light infantry battalions, 111th Brigade would not have retrained all of its task forces until March, 1999. Training of new medics, engineers, artillery crews, and all of the other non-infantry specialists was an additional burden that would have to be managed concurrently with the retraining of the rifle battalions and new soldiers. Given the priority of training the light infantry, Thomason decided to operate 367th more as an armored cavalry outfit than a heavy motorized infantry formation until resources could be diverted to train motorized infantry. Essentially, then, the armored personnel carriers of 367th would be operated as armored cars or light tanks in the near term. This decision was enormously unpopular with many among Thomason’s command and staff. In time, the battalion commanders would find ways around Thomason’s decision.

The greatest challenge to rebuilding 111th Brigade, though, remained the ongoing conflict. Although Nogales and Hermosillo Brigades had withdrawn across the border, Sonora Army (now semi-autonomous in relation to Second Mexican Army) continued to keep pressure on the Huachuca-Tucson cantonment with small-scale actions. Combat patrols, raids, planting of booby traps, and the like continued along the border and would soon build to larger-scale actions. More importantly, the Mexican Army possessed a number of uncommitted brigades in the interior of Mexico. These could be tapped for reinforcement for the brigades of Sonora Army or even brought up whole scale in short order. Thomason needed to keep strong forces in position to defend the cantonment, even as his people labored to rebuild 111th Brigade. 305th and 309th Battalions initially were positioned in Bisbee and north of Nogales initially, with regular strong patrols moving all along the southern roots of the Huachuca Mountains and the San Pedro River Valley. In June and July, both of these formations found themselves in the unenviable position of receiving large numbers of replacements who were not trained to operate as infantry. Grumbling about the favoritism some felt was being shown to the 326th, whose soldiers were sleeping in barracks and getting the chance to train together before being put into the field, the 305th and 309th Battalions went about incorporating the replacements into their new units in as rational a manner as possible. To the credit of the commands and staffs at the battalion and company levels in both battalions, the leaders seemed to understand the necessity of Thomason’s directives, even if they weren’t particularly happy.

Fortunately for the Huachuca command, Sonora Army was in no position to conduct operations on a scale larger than that of a company until mid-September. In Mexico City, Arizona was considered a secondary front. Ensenada Brigade was ordered to extend its area of control upriver from Yuma such that the water control infrastructure at the head of the All-American Canal was secured. The Imperial Valley, irrigated by water diverted from the Colorado through the All-American Canal, was a rich prize. Beyond that, Arizona was far less important than California in the eyes of the senior Mexican leadership. Moreover, by late August 6th US Army in central California was gaining strength. The available support had to go to California. Arizona could wait. Consequently, 305th, 309th, and 355th Battalions had time to break in their new troops and give them at least some infantry training and experience before the scale and tempo of combat in southern Arizona picked up again.

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